SA has come through with some offers 2x a year+, but she really wants the dream bag and at this point she doesn’t think it’s coming. Right now spend is 5x with the SA
If your friend is getting 2+ offers a year on 5X spend, her SA is actually doing well for her.
I maintain a 5X spend * easily between twice yearly offers, and my SA has explained that the bag I want simply hasn’t been allocated to him for any of his clients. (even though he thought this would not be a problem some months ago). An SA cannot deliver a bag to anyone, no matter how high a prespend, if it is not approved by the SM. As for events, I was told that SMs want to make sure that as many clients get invited to smaller micro events. If her Sa feels that your friend has been taken care of and needs to placate clients who haven’t had 2 offers a year, I can easily imagine that the SM will want the SA to invite others. I can also imagine a SM refusing to authorize an invite if another client who hasn’t gotten offers needs something positive. But, even a great client won’t get invited to all or the most coveted.
By the way, I do not consider my 5X plus spend as anything out of the ordinary, and I honestly do not think that in this environment, your friend should think that a 5X spend merits ‘dream’ bags that are usually push offers. I have friends who can easily spend 5X- 8x per visit. If you are frustrated that your friend doesn’t want to complain to management but keeps discussing it with you, perhaps that is something you might take up with her. It sounds like she doesn’t really understand that her SA is NOT in charge of who gets what bag, yet the SA cannot criticize the SM. it’s very likely that the SM could have told the SA one thing, and then changed her mind. Some years ago, my SA was trained that it wasn’t spend that mattered but rather client loyalty to the brand. Unfortunately, that is not how management currently perceives it.
* I stopped counting at 5X plus and in my competitive Maison, I am not a VIP by any means. With the offers that I have rejected, my orespend has grown. If your friend has an issue, then I agree with
@craven to simply start over with someone else. But, in the current competitive environment, there is no guarantee that another SA can or will act differently. I also agree with others that complaining to management won’t help, bc I do believe that it’s management that decides who gets what offer, not the SA.
ETA: prespend should only be for clients who genuinely love boutique merchandise. It does not actually entitle anyone to a ‘dream’ bag. If an SA was led to believe that she could offer x dream bag to someone, it isn’t the SAs fault if her SM changes her mind. Which is what I think happens in many of these cases. And, for all of us who think that the SA should just come clean and ‘tell the truth,’ one solid reason why the SA does not do that is it can be against corporate policy. So blame the company, not the SA. If it were up to an SA, they’d award coveted bags to everyone. the SA doesn’t get commission from any bag offer.
ETA : at the end of the day, the client has the ultimate authority bc she can stop spending. A reseller can be easier and cheaper and more certain.
I have seen this happen with SAs who aren't very bright and don't necessarily understand how to offer bags (especially non-leather SAs) - they make an offer usually w/o SM approval, and the bag goes to someone else.